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Mechanical oscillators are an essential component of practically every electronic system requiring a frequency reference for time keeping or synchronization and are also widely used in frequency-shift based sensors of mass, force, and magnetic field. Currently, micro- and nano-mechanical oscillators are being developed as an alternative to conventional oscillators, e.g. quartz oscillators, supported by their intrinsic compatibility with standard semiconductor processing and by their unprecedented sensitivity and time response as miniaturized sensing devices. Unfortunately, as the dimensions of the vibrating structures are reduced to the micro- and nano-scale their dynamic response at the amplitudes needed for operation frequently becomes nonlinear, with large displacement instabilities and excessive frequency noise considerably degrading their performance.